[EN] Private equity firms prepare bids for Informatica

By Liana B. Baker and Greg Roumeliotis

Fri Mar 20, 2015

(Reuters) - Several private equity firms are preparing to make offers to acquire enterprise software maker Informatica Corp, in what could be this year's largest leveraged buyout, according to people familiar with the matter.

Silver Lake Partners LP has teamed up with Hellman & Friedman LLC ahead of a deadline for final bids for Informatica that is set for early April, the people said on Friday.

Some of these four firms could also team up to try to take Informatica private, the people added. Informatica has a market capitalization of $4.8 billion.

Shares in Informatica rose 83 cents or 1.9 percent on the news Friday, hitting a multiyear high of $45.45.

The sources asked not to be identified because the deliberations are confidential. Spokespeople for Informatica and the private equity firms declined to comment.

The biggest leveraged buyout so far this year has been the agreed acquisition of gym operator Life Time Fitness Inc by buyout firms Leonard Green & Partners LP and TPG Capital LP for more than $4 billion, including debt.

Redwood City, California-based Informatica helps companies connect software and enterprise applications and store data. It competes in the integration software market with Tibco, a company that went private in December in a $4.3 billion sale to buyout firm Vista Equity Partners.

Activist hedge fund Elliott Management Corp disclosed an 8 percent stake in Informatica on Jan. 26 and said in a regulatory filing it was speaking to the company's management and board about ways to maximize shareholder value. A person familiar with the matter said at the time that Elliott may call for Informatica to be sold.

An auction for Informatica run by investment banking boutique Qatalyst Partners LP was put on hold in early January after interest received from private equity firms failed to lead to a deal, Reuters previously reported.

A number of well-known technology companies have been targeted by activist investors in recent years as the sector undergoes rapid change and older technology companies sit on large amounts of cash.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is now advising Informatica, in addition to its previous financial adviser, Qatalyst Partners LP. JPMorgan declined to comment while Qataylst could not be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Liana B. Baker in New York and Greg Roumeliotis in New Orleans; Editing by Christian Plumb)